TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
KPK arrests Papua governor on bribery charges
Authorities have accused Lukas Enembe, 55, of granting contracts -- worth up to Rp 40 billion ($2.57 million) between 2019 and 2021 -- for construction projects to a company with an inexperienced track record in the sector.
Change Size
Under investigation: Papua governor Lukas Enembe attends a dialogue held recently. (Kompas.com/Indra Akuntono)
T
he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators arrested Papua's governor on Tuesday in a corruption probe on suspicion of accepting bribes linked to infrastructure projects in the restive eastern province, officials said.
Authorities have accused Lukas Enembe, 55, of granting contracts -- worth up to Rp 40 billion ($2.57 million) between 2019 and 2021 -- for construction projects to a company with an inexperienced track record in the sector.
He was accused in September of accepting a bribe of one billion rupiah from the company but failed to respond to several summonses to Jakarta from anti-graft authorities, citing health reasons.
"It is true that today our investigators have arrested the suspect L. E. in Papua. Currently, he is on his way to Jakarta," Ali Fikri, spokesman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) told AFP, using only the governor's initials.
The politician was arrested in a restaurant on Tuesday morning, the spokesman said during a televised interview.
The lawyers of Lukas, an ethnic Papuan who has served as governor of the resource-rich province since 2013, have denied the allegations.
Local media published images of authorities taking him on to a plane after his arrest in Jayapura, Papua's capital.
